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How you can protect bays and estuaries

1. Recycle Used Motor Oil. The only recommended way to dispose of oil is to put it into a sturdy container and take it to your neighborhood automotive garage or oil recycling center. Call 1-800-RECYCLE for recycling locations near your home.
   
   
2. Conserving water at home and in the office can reduce the volume that must be treated by a sewage treatment plant or septic system. Check for and eliminate leaks in faucets, toilets, hoses and pipes. To discover whether your system has leaks, check your water meter while no water is being used. If the dial moves, you have a leak. To check toilets for leaks, add food coloring to the toilet tank. If color appears in the bowl, there is a leak that requires immediate attention.
   
3. Use your car less! Cars are the biggest contributor to air pollution and one of the biggest to water pollution. Whenever possible, walk or bicycle. When you choose a new home, select one that reduces commuting distances.
   
   
4. Insulate your water heater, caulk your windows, and insulate your home to reduce energy demand and the need for new dams on rivers and streams. Dams change stream, plant and animal habitats, and they can decrease the ability of streamside vegetation to filter sediments and harmful materials from runoff waters.
   
   
5. Reduce runoff from lawns by properly adjusting your lawnmower. Healthy turf holds rain water, filters sediments and chemicals, and requires less frequent watering. Mowing height for perennial ryegrass and fescues should be 1-1/2 inches. Cut your grass frequently enough so that no more than 1/3 of the grass blade is removed at one mowing.
   
   
6. Preserve the established trees around your home and in your neighborhood. Plant new trees and shrubs to encourage excess rainwater to filter slowly into the soil.
   
   
7. Pre-cycle by considering product packaging when purchasing. Packaging makes up 33 percent of our household waste. Look for products with limited, recycled, or reusable packaging. Buy foods in glass and aluminum containers, or in bulk, using your own containers.
   
   
8. Rinse and scrub your boat hull and decks with a brush instead of using soap; you will be helping to keep our waters clean.
   
   
9. If your boat is stained, used phosphate free soap/laundry detergent or any of the alternatives suggested in the hazardous wastes chapter to get it clean.
   
   
10. Dispose of your hazardous wastes during special collection days rather than in your regular garbage pickup or down storm drains.